Stalking
Stalking is unwanted and/or repeated surveillance or contact by an individual or group toward another person.[1] Stalking behaviors are interrelated to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person or monitoring them. The term stalking is used with some differing definitions in psychiatry and psychology, as well as in some legal jurisdictions as a term for a criminal offense.[2][3]
"Stalker" redirects here. For other uses, see Stalker (disambiguation).According to a 2002 report by the U.S. National Center for Victims of Crime, "virtually any unwanted contact between two people that directly or indirectly communicates a threat or places the victim in fear can be considered stalking",[4] although the rights afforded to victims may vary depending on jurisdiction.
Definitions
A 1995 research paper titled "Stalking Strangers and Lovers" was among the first places to use the term "stalking" to describe the common occurrence of males after a breakup who aggressively pursue their female former partner.[5][6] Prior to that paper instead of the term "stalking", people more commonly used the terms "female harassment", "obsessive following" or "psychological rape".[6][7][8]
The difficulties associated with defining this term exactly (or defining it at all) are well documented.[9]
Having been used since at least the 16th century to refer to a prowler or a poacher (Oxford English Dictionary), the term stalker was initially used by media in the 20th century to describe people who pester and harass others, initially with specific reference to the harassment of celebrities by strangers who were described as being "obsessed".[10] This use of the word appears to have been coined by the tabloid press in the United States.[11] With time, the meaning of stalking changed and incorporated individuals being harassed by their former partners.[12] Pathé and Mullen describe stalking as "a constellation of behaviours in which an individual inflicts upon another repeated unwanted intrusions and communications".[13] Stalking can be defined as the willful and repeated following, watching or harassing of another person.[14] Unlike other crimes, which usually involve one act, stalking is a series of actions that occur over a period of time.
Although stalking is illegal in most areas of the world, some of the actions that contribute to stalking may be legal, such as gathering information, calling someone on the phone, texting, sending gifts, emailing, or instant messaging. They become illegal when they breach the legal definition of harassment (e.g., an action such as sending a text is not usually illegal, but is illegal when frequently repeated to an unwilling recipient). In fact, United Kingdom law states the incident only has to happen twice when the harasser should be aware their behavior is unacceptable (e.g., two phone calls to a stranger, two gifts, following the victim then phoning them, etc.).[15]
Cultural norms and meaning affect the way stalking is defined. Scholars note that the majority of men and women admit engaging in various stalking-like behaviors following a breakup, but stop such behaviors over time, suggesting that "engagement in low levels of unwanted pursuit behaviors for a relatively short amount of time, particularly in the context of a relationship break-up, may be normative for heterosexual dating relationships occurring within U.S. culture."[16]
Epidemiology and prevalence
Australia
According to a study conducted by Purcell, Pathé and Mullen (2002), 23% of the Australian population reported having been stalked.[40]
Austria
Stieger, Burger and Schild conducted a survey in Austria, revealing a lifetime prevalence of 11% (women: 17%, men: 3%).[41] Further results include: 86% of stalking victims were female, 81% of the stalkers were male. Women were mainly stalked by men (88%) while men were almost equally stalked by men and women (60% male stalkers). 19% of the stalking victims reported that they were still being stalked at the time of study participation (point prevalence rate: 2%). To 70% of the victims, the stalker was known, being a prior intimate partner in 40%, a friend or acquaintance in 23% and a colleague at work in 13% of cases. As a consequence, 72% of the victims reported having changed their lifestyle. 52% of former and ongoing stalking victims reported having a currently impaired (pathological) psychological well-being. There was no significant difference between the incidence of stalking in rural and urban areas.
England and Wales
In 1998, Budd and Mattinson found a lifetime prevalence of 12% in England and Wales (16% female, 7% males).[42] In 2010/11, 57% of stalking victims were found to be female, and 43% were male.[43]
According to a paper by staff from the Fixated Threat Assessment Centre, a unit established to deal with people with fixations on public figures, 86% of a sample group of 100 people assessed by them appeared to them to have a psychotic illness; 57% of the sample group were subsequently admitted to hospital, and 26% treated in the community.[44]
A similar retrospective study published in 2009 in Psychological Medicine, based on a sample of threats to the royal family kept by the Metropolitan Police Service over a period of 15 years, suggested that 83.6% of these letter-writers had a serious mental illness.[45]
India
In India, a stalking case is reported every 55 minutes. Most cases are not reported as they're not considered criminal enough.[47]
United States
Tjaden and Thoennes reported a lifetime prevalence (being stalked) of 8% in females and 2% in males (depending on how strict the definition) in the National Violence Against Women Survey.[48]
Laws on harassment and stalking
Australia
Every Australian state enacted laws prohibiting stalking during the 1990s, with Queensland being the first state to do so in 1994. The laws vary slightly from state to state, with Queensland's laws having the broadest scope, and South Australian laws the most restrictive. Punishments vary from a maximum of 10 years imprisonment in some states, to a fine for the lowest severity of stalking in others. Australian anti-stalking laws have some notable features. Unlike many US jurisdictions they do not require the victim to have felt fear or distress as a result of the behaviour, only that a reasonable person would have felt this way. In some states, the anti-stalking laws operate extra-territorially, meaning that an individual can be charged with stalking if either they or the victim are in the relevant state. Most Australian states provide the option of a restraining order in cases of stalking, breach of which is punishable as a criminal offence. There has been relatively little research into Australian court outcomes in stalking cases, although Freckelton (2001) found that in the state of Victoria, most stalkers received fines or community based dispositions.[49]
Canada
Section 264 of the Criminal Code, titled "criminal harassment",[50] addresses acts which are termed "stalking" in many other jurisdictions. The provisions of the section came into force in August 1993 with the intent of further strengthening laws protecting women.[51] It is a hybrid offence, which may be punishable upon summary conviction or as an indictable offence, the latter of which may carry a prison term of up to ten years. Section 264 has withstood Charter challenges.[52]
The Chief, Policing Services Program, for Statistics Canada has stated:[53]